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You are here: Home / Archives for Guard Your Meds

Securing Medicine Cabinets: How Pharmacists Can Help

February 22, 2017 by John Burke

One topic of prescription drug diversion not discussed as much as it ought to be these days involves your medicine cabinet. It is a huge source of prescription drug abuse for youths between 12 and 17 years of age, mostly because it is easily accessible and because teenagers have little ability to doctor shop or pass forged or altered prescriptions.

This would be enough of a concern if youths were the only individuals accessing these drugs, but there are others with access, too, whom you might not ever suspect. Over the years, I have seen cases in which individuals who paint houses, deliver refrigerators, or lay carpet pilfer drugs from bathroom medicine cabinets. Most home dwellers would not think twice about protecting these potentially dangerous and valuable commodities that sit for months or years in that “special” cabinet in the bathroom. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abuse Prevention, Drug Diversion, Pharmacies, Pharmacy Times Article Tagged With: Guard Your Meds, Training

Drug Diversion and Abuse: Monitoring the Future: Some Good News

February 1, 2015 by John Burke

In mid­-December 2014, the Monitoring the Future survey results provided good news regarding trends among America’s teens. This nationally known survey inquires about drug use and attitudes of American 8th, 10th, and 12th graders. The results are encouraging on many fronts, but especially regarding pharmaceutical use.

The study specifically cites Vicodin, which has very limited dispensing, but I’m sure that the study is referring to the most prescribed drug in the United States— the generic equivalent, hydrocodone. Hydrocodone has long been a drug of abuse with teenagers, especially high school seniors. However, abuse of hydrocodone among high school seniors has dropped from 9.7% in 2009 to only 4.8% in 2014, according to this recent study. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abuse Prevention, Drug Diversion, Pharmacy Times Article Tagged With: Guard Your Meds, Hydrocodone, Prescription Drug Drop Boxes

Drug Diversion and Abuse: A Deadly Mixture

January 1, 2015 by John Burke

In my local paper a few weeks ago, a tragic tale was told by the mother of a college student who had died of alcohol toxicity. Her son had consumed copious amounts of alcohol and simultaneously snorted a stimulant usually prescribed for attention­deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The story focused on the student’s stimulant abuse, which involved several pills over the course of the night. The mother had no idea how her son obtained the pills, but they had not been legally prescribed. In the story, alcohol abuse seemed to be regarded as a rite of passage for college students, so the full blame was placed on the prescription stimulant. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abuse Prevention, Drug Diversion, Pharmacy Times Article Tagged With: Guard Your Meds, Overdose

Drug Diversion and Abuse: Generation Rx Initiative: The OSU Project

February 18, 2014 by John Burke

I had the great pleasure of having lunch with Dr. Ken Hale and Dr. Nicole Kwiek of The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Pharmacy. We were coming together to see how their organization and the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI) could collaborate in the future.

Although I don’t purport to have learned everything there is to know about their project, The Generation Rx Initiative, I gained enough knowledge to know that this is an outstanding endeavor—and it is all going on a mere 100 miles from my home! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Drug Diversion, Pharmacy Times Article Tagged With: Guard Your Meds

Guard Your Meds: Spreading the Word

March 19, 2012 by John Burke

Over the past few years, we have found out that prescription drugs are the #1 substance of abuse of teenagers aged 12 to 17 years and one of the significant sources is our own medicine cabinets. Of course, the medicine cabinet is not only a treasure trove of medications for our youth, but also is tempting for anyone who may be visiting your home and decides to stalk your bathroom for pharmaceuticals.

In addition to the people laying your carpet, delivering your refrigerator, painting your house, or just a friend or neighbor paying a social visit, you have to worry about a realtor’s open house attracting prescription drug seekers. All of these people thrive on 1 thing—that your medications are likely in your medicine cabinet in 1 or more bathrooms, and they are unsecured and ripe for theft.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abuse Prevention, Drug Diversion, Pharmacy Times Article Tagged With: Guard Your Meds, Hydrocodone, Overdose, Oxycodone

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How BIG is the problem?

Year after year, state and local law enforcement statistics indicate that pharmaceuticals are almost 30% of the overall drug problem in the United States, running a close second only marijuana abuse. However, until recently, law enforcement, health care professionals, and the general public have placed little emphasis on this huge problem.

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About PDE

Pharmaceutical Diversion Education (PDE) is designed to assist a wide range of the population in understanding the potential abuse and addiction that can be associated with prescription medication.

Drug Diversion:
Any Criminal Act Involving a Prescription Drug.

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